The current Announcement covers XMM-Newton Guest Observer (GO) scientific
proposals selected by the ESA peer review at the A level for observation
during AO-12 operations. The period of AO-12 observations is expected to
cover a 12 month interval beginning around 2013 May.

In the proposal review carried out by ESA, the scientific and technical
merits of the proposed investigations were judged and time appropriately
allocated. The budget proposal process to be carried out by NASA will be
responsible
for allocating support for the investigations of the qualified accepted
proposals. The amount of support for a given investigation will depend
on a number of various considerations including, but not limited to, the
complexity of the analysis, number of targets and the time allocated to
the targets, the priority of the targets, the number of accepted proposals
for which the PI is requesting support under this announcement,
and other sources of funding relevant to this request.

A cost proposal is required for each qualifying investigation for which
financial support from NASA is requested. Investigations will be funded
for a period of one year commencing nominally at the start of the FY14
fiscal year (1 October 2013). No-cost extensions will
be considered only in extremely well justified cases. Note: the
funds associated with this AO are intended for use in a single year -
no-cost extensions are unlikely to be granted. PIs are welcome to
apply to future ADAP rounds for additional funding after the data are no
longer proprietary.

Note: All communications with the NASA/GSFC XMM-Newton GOF regarding
a specific proposal must include the ESA-supplied identification number for
that proposal (the six-digit proposal number currently including a leading zero).

Successful science proposal targets are prioritized in three categories.
Category A and B targets are guaranteed to be observed, while category C
targets are used as schedule fillers if time allows or scheduling
constraints require. Only proposals with US PIs and catagory A targets (only
those PIs who have been explicity notified of their eligibility)
are eligable to request funding under this AO.

All explicitly notified PIs (i.e., those who have received fair-share
estimates) for AO-12 proposals must submit
budgets in response to this budget AO by the deadline specified
below for
consideration. For those programs with both A and B targets the
funding level will be determined by both the A and B targets.

Only one budget proposal will be allowed for each accepted scientific
proposal meeting the above criteria. The PI (or Co-I designated by the
PI) should submit the budget proposal.

Note: In circumstances where
institutional rules do not allow
a successful science PI to be the budget PI (e.g., for Post-Docs or
graduate students at many institutions) the science PI may designate a
Co-I to act as the budget PI. A signed letter to that effect explaining
the reason must be submitted with the budget proposal. The name of the
budget PI should appear as the PI on all forms.

A one to two page justification of
the budget (note that a more complete description of requested
travel is now required, even if
the travel destination is subject to change)

The 4-5 page scientific justification from the ESA observation AO

A funding status page listing
current and pending support for the PI (a standard form is available in
LaTeX,
PS,
and PDF
formats), and

a short CV (two pages) is required.

The Cover Page, General Form, and Budget Form are generated in RPS and
are downloadable in PDF format.

All proposals must be submitted both on paper and on a CD. Electronic submission
is no longer permitted because of IT security concerns. Individuals not having access to
the Internet should contact Dr. Steve Snowden at least one month prior to the budget
proposal due date at the address given in the Solicitation Announcement.
The CD must contain three PDF files:

the RPS-generated PDF file containing the Cover Page, General Form, and Budget Form

the budget justification, current and pending support form, and CV, combined into one file

the four or five page scientific justification from the ESA observation proposal

The CD should be submitted with 10 paper hardcopies of the entire proposal.

Detailed Descriptions/Instructions

Cover Page:
The Cover Page is generated through the
RPS system, the use
of which is mandatory.
The Proposal Number provided in the ESA proposal status e-mail must be
included on all pages. The title and abstract should be the same as for
the original scientific proposal. It should be limited to 800 characters,
including spaces between words, with no embedded commands, i.e., flat ASCII
only. Abstracts that exceed this length will be truncated automatically at
800 characters when entered into the data base. Abstracts and target lists
will be made available on publicly accessible databases.
NOTE: No other cover page should be used
for the first page of the proposal. DO NOT attach any institutional cover
pages, or any other documentation beyond what is specified in the table
below. Proposals which violate this rule are subject
to rejection.

General Form:
The General Form is generated through the
RPS system, the use of
which is mandatory. Both institutional endorsement and PI signatures are
required for the hard-copy submission.
The 9-digit zip code and Congressional District of the institution must be
provided. For the Congressional District please use the format of the
two-letter state abbreviation then the ordinal number of the district
(e.g., MD 5th). Note that
the institutional-endorsement signature on the General Form also doubles as the
institutional certification for 1) Lobbying, 2) Debarment/Suspension, and
3) Civil Rights. For reference, the text for these certifications can be found
below.

Budget Form:
The Budget Form is generated through the
RPS system, the use of
which is mandatory.

The budget form contains:

The title of the corresponding scientific proposal, the ESA-assigned
proposal number, and the name of the PI.

Item 1: The level of the labor separated into three coarse levels
(Professor or Senior Researcher,
Post-Doc or Junior Researcher, or Graduate Student),
the estimated full-time labor equivalent (FTE, the fraction of a work
year required for the analysis) and the yearly salary plus fringe
benefits.

Item 2: Estimated costs for equipment, material, computer services,
publications, travel (itemize trips in the
budget justification,
in general, only one trip per team member to a professional society
meeting will be supported), and other costs, with explanations.
Itemize items over $1000 in the budget justification. Computing
requirements are discussed in the
Budget Proposal Supplement.

Item 3: Other applicable costs, with explanation.

Item 4: Graduate student tuition remission.

Item 5: Facilities and Administrative costs, including all overheads from
the above items.

Budget Justification and Summary:
A brief, one to two page budget justification must be submitted providing
the rationale for the various direct cost items and amounts requested.
This justification should allow the budget review panel to assess the
degree of the necessity of each budget item. The justification should
include a detailed breakdown of the responsibility of the
various investigators who are requesting funding. The budgets must
explicitly list any funds requested for Co-Is, and justify
their support. This includes both US PI and foreign PI proposals.

PIs with joint US and foreign affiliations must list the fraction of
time spent in the US as well as the fraction of support provided by
US institutions. The expected duration of the US
appointment should also be listed. Note that GO funds cannot be used
to pay for the commute between the foreign and US institution.

Scientific Justification:
The four or five page scientific justification submitted in the science
proposal process.

Current and Pending Support:
A complete list of awarded and pending research funding support from NASA
or other sources for the Principal Investigator. The information needed
includes: Agency, Grant/Contract
Number, Title, Amount, Starting and Ending Dates, and Level of Effort (percent).
A Current and Pending Support form is available as an annotated
LaTeX file,
an editable PDF file,
and a PS file.

Assurances:
Signed ACORN
(DOCX Form)
and China (DOCX Form)
assurances must be included in the submission.

Vitae: CV of the budget PI. The CVs shall be no
more than two pages and shall include
a publication list with the most recent and/or important publications.

Institutional Budgets: If your institution
requires it, one copy of your institutional budget forms may be included
with the hard copy submission. This is not to be attached to the ten copies
of the budget proposal.

To conserve paper, proposals should be printed
double-sided. Ten (10) hard copies of the budget proposal, signed original
on top, and a CD with electronic versions (PDF) of the three files mentioned above
are due at the following address by the date and time specified
below. Many institutions like
to include a more detailed budget. This is acceptable but it should be placed
at the bottom of the pile.

The current schedule for the review of the budget proposals is listed below.
Note, however, that the dates of events are subject to change.

DATE

EVENT

2013 May 10

Release of this Announcement

2013 July 29, 4:30 PM EDT

Budget Proposals Due

2013 August-Spetember

Notification of Results

As soon as possible

Revised Budgets Due

Provision of funds to individual GOs will in general occur near the time
which the first associated observation is scheduled to be performed,
but no earlier than the start of FY14.

INSTITUTIONAL CERTIFICATIONS

In accordance with U.S. Code, there are currently two certifications and one
formal assurance required from every institution, except from U.S. Federal
institutions, submitting a proposal. Please see the NASA Office of Space Science
"Guidebook for Proposers"
Section E. The certifications are:

* Debarment, Suspension, and Other Responsibility Matters;

* Lobbying for Contracts, Grants, Loans and Cooperative Agreements (required
only for proposals seeking a cumulative total in excess of $100,000)

In order to reduce paper work required by the submitting institutions, language
is now included on the printout of the proposal Cover Page that confirms
that these requirements are met by the proposing institution once that printed
item is signed by the Authorizing Institutional Representative and submitted
with the proposal. Therefore, these Certifications and Assurances are included
in this Guidebook only for reference and information; they should not
be submitted with the proposal.

Certification Regarding Debarment, Suspension, and

Other Responsibility Matters

This certification is required by the regulations implementing
Executive Order 12549, Debarment and Suspension, 14 CFR Part 1265, Participant?s
responsibilities. The regulations were published as Part VII of the May 26,
1988 Federal Register (pages 19160-19211).

(1) The prospective primary participant certifies to the
best of its knowledge and belief, that it and its principals:

Are not presently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, declared
ineligible, or voluntarily excluded from covered transactions by any Federal
department or agency;

Have not within a three-year period preceding this proposal been convicted
of or had a civil judgment rendered against them for commission of fraud or
a criminal offense in connection with obtaining, attempting to obtain, or
performing a public (Federal, State, or local) transaction or contract under
a public transaction; violation of Federal or State antitrust statues or commission
of embezzlement theft, forgery, bribery, falsification or destruction of records,
making false statements, or receiving stolen property;

Are not presently indicted for or otherwise criminally or civilly charged
by a governmental entity (Federal, State or local) with commission of any
of the offenses enumerated in paragraph (1)(b) of this certification; and

Have not within three-year period preceding this application/proposal had
one or more public transactions (Federal, State, or local) terminated for
cause or default.

(2) Where the prospective primary participant is unable to
certify to any of the statements in this certification, such prospective participant
shall attach an explanation to this proposal.

Certification Regarding Lobbying

No Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will be paid, by or on behalf
of the undersigned, to any person for influencing or attempting to influence
an officer or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or
employee of Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection
with the awarding of any Federal contract, the making of any Federal grant,
the making of any Federal loan, the entering into of any cooperative agreement,
and the extension, continuation, renewal, amendment, or modification of any
Federal contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement.

If any funds other than Federal appropriated funds have been paid or will
be paid to any person for influencing or attempting to influence an officer
or employee of any agency, a Member of Congress, an officer or employee of
Congress, or an employee of a Member of Congress in connection with this Federal
contract, grant, loan, or cooperative agreement, the undersigned shall complete
and submit Standard Form-LLL, "Disclosure Form to Report Lobbying," in accordance
with its instructions.

The undersigned shall require that the language of this certification be
included in the award documents for all subawards at all tiers (including
subcontracts, subgrants, and contracts under grants, loans, and cooperative
agreements) and that all subrecipients shall certify and disclose accordingly.

This certification is a material representation of fact upon
which reliance was placed when this transaction was made or entered into.
Submission of this certification is a prerequisite for making or entering
into this transaction imposed by section 1352, title 31, U.S. Code. Any person
who fails to file the required certification shall be subject to a civil penalty
of not less than $10,000, and not more than $100,000 for each such failure.

Assurance of Compliance with the National
Aeronautics and Space
Administration Regulations Pursuant to Nondiscrimination in Federally Assisted
Programs

The Organization, corporation, firm, or other organization on whose behalf this
assurance is made, hereinafter called "Applicant,"

HEREBY acknowledges and agrees that it must comply (and require any subgrantees,
contractors, successors, transferees, and assignees to comply) with applicable
provisions of national laws and policies prohibiting discrimination, including
but not limited to:

1. Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, which prohibits recipients
of federal financial assistance from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or
national origin (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), as implemented by NASA Title VI
regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1250.

As clarified by Executive Order 13166, Improving Access to Services for Persons
with Limited English Proficiency, and resulting agency guidance, national origin
discrimination includes discrimination on the basis of limited English
proficiency (LEP). To ensure compliance with Title VI, the Applicant must take
reasonable steps to ensure that LEP persons have meaningful access to its
programs in accordance with NASA Title VI LEP Guidance to Grant Recipients
(68 Fed. Reg. 70039). Meaningful access may entail providing language assistance
services, including oral and written translation, where necessary. The Applicant
is encouraged to consider the need for language services for LEP persons served
or encountered both in developing budgets and in conducting programs and
activities. Assistance and information regarding LEP obligations may be found at
http://www.lep.gov.

2. Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended, which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities
(20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.) as implemented by NASA Title IX regulations,
14 C.F.R. Part 1253. If the Applicant is an educational institution:

a. The Applicant is required to designate at least one employee to serve as its
Title IX coordinator (14 C.F.R. § 1253.135(a)).

b. The Applicant is required to notify all of its program beneficiaries of the
name, office, address, and telephone number of the employee(s) designated to
serve as the Title IX coordinators. (14 C.F.R. §1253.135(a)).

d. The Applicant is required to take specific steps to regularly and consistently
notify program beneficiaries that The Applicant does not discriminate in the
operation of its programs and activities. (14 C.F.R. §1253.140).

3. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, which prohibits The
Applicant from discriminating on the basis of disability (29 U.S.C. 794) as
implemented by NASA Section 504 regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1251.

a. The Applicant is required to designate at least one employee to serve as its
Section 504 coordinator (14 C.F.R. §1251.106(a)).

b. The Applicant is required to notify all its program beneficiaries of the name,
office, address, and telephone number of the employee(s) designated to serve as
the Section 504 coordinator (14 C.F.R. §1251.106(a)).

d. The Applicant is required to take specific steps to regularly and consistently
notify program beneficiaries that the Applicant does not discriminate in the
operation of its programs and activities. (14 C.F.R. §1251.107).

4. The Age Discrimination Act of 1975, as amended, which prohibits the Applicant
from discriminating on the basis of age (42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq.) as implemented
by NASA Age Discrimination Act regulations, 14 C.F.R. Part 1252.

The Applicant also acknowledges and agrees that it must cooperate with any
compliance review or complaint investigation conducted by NASA and comply (and
require any subgrantees, contractors, successors, transferees, and assignees to
comply) with applicable provisions governing NASA access to records, accounts,
documents, information, facilities, and staff. The Applicant must keep such
records and submit to the responsible NASA official or designee timely, complete,
and accurate compliance reports at such times, and in such form and containing
such information, as the responsible NASA official or his designee may determine
to be necessary to ascertain whether the Applicant has complied or is complying
with relevant obligations and must immediately take any measure determined
necessary to effectuate this agreement. The Applicant must comply with all other
reporting, data collection, and evaluation requirements, as prescribed by law or
detailed in program guidance.

THIS ASSURANCE is given in consideration of and for the purpose of obtaining any
and all federal grants, loans, contracts, property, discounts or other federal
financial assistance extended after the date hereof to the Applicant by NASA,
including installation payments after such date on account of applications for
federal financial assistance which were approved before such date. The Applicant
recognizes and agrees that such federal financial assistance will be extended in
reliance on the representations and agreements made in this assurance, and that
the United States shall have the right to seek judicial enforcement of this
assurance. This assurance is binding on the Applicant, its successors, transferees,
and assignees, and the person or persons whose signatures appear below are
authorized to sign on behalf of the Applicant.”

Under penalty of perjury, the undersigned officials certify that they have read
and understand their obligations as herein described, that the information
submitted in conjunction with this document is accurate and complete, and that
the recipient is in compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements set out
above.